Chapter 43: Playing With Ants

"Well, no matter, there is very little today that can spoil my mood."

Toda had a grin that much resembled that of his men-yoroi. He looked across the battlefield, wondering what the most fun way of dealing with the ants in front of him might be.

He was aware, through his superior intelligence, of exactly what Nakatane was about to do next. Hence he had the control entirely. He was the playwright to this grand performance.

He looked to Ochi on the left: he was continually clenching and unclenching his grip upon his polearm, admiring the bulging veins in his forearm as he did so.

Toda sighed at such stupidity. He knew that if he sent him and his raging dogs to attack, the battle would be over all but instantly. The enemy would flee toward the river after discarding their weapons, and they would find nothing there. It would be a slaughter.

He ran and finger under his kabuto, trying to deal with the bothersome itch that such a tight helmet often generated, pondering as he did so. He wanted to play with that old fool Nakatane, and drag the battle out of for as long as he could.

He'd always found himself despising the man, ever since he was a child. There was something about his moralities that truly infuriated him. He supposed it was because of their foolish nature. Back when he had to sit in on the long conversations his father and that man would share, he had truly wished to drive the chopsticks in his hand through each other their eyes.

And then, when he had finally got that father of his out of the picture, things started to look up. The world had become infinitely more enjoyable, and he could play with things as he wished. Money was not an issue, as long as you forgot to care about pointless things.

But, stupidity enough, money gave you an incredible amount of power, and it had been easy enough to suppress the little village of Toyone after recruiting a single mercenary unit for a price that he deemed to be menial.

He laughed as he recalled how that old fool had even been willing to give away his daughter in order to protect that pathetic little town of his.

'But now, she will be mine all the same. I imagine she'll be much more fun than those village girls.'

"Ochi. Send some of your bowmen to annoy them a bit. Don't kill too many, just scare them."

That great mammoth of a man looked rather unhappy with that command, for he'd been itching for blood for far too long. But still, he gave the orders, and watched as he 40 bowmen galloped away.

They urged their horses on with lashes to the side, hollering like wild animals, as they stood up in their stirrups and drew back their bowstrings, steadily closing the distance.

Toda watched on with a little smile on his lips, wondering how Nakatane might respond.

They neared the enemies' ranks, and arrows started to fly from their short, horseback bows. He heard some fine screams as a few of the arrows landed, one catching a man in the knee, and the other tearing through a man's cheek.

"STAND FIRM!"

A rallying cry rang across the battlefield, full of emotion. It was one that Toda recognised instantly. His eyes began to narrow as his grotesque smile grew even more perverse.

'Kahaha, is it getting a little tough for you, Niwa, seeing your people die right in front of you? Get used it. There is much more where that came from.'

He watched expectantly, waiting for them to run toward the river. The horsemen were recalled and 10 soldiers lay dead, with another 5 wounded. Cries were coming from their ranks, and each one was a sweet delight to his ears.

"Fuck! There's no way we can win!"

"Yeah! What the fuck are we doing? I don't want to die!"

Their shouts were heard even as far away as he was, and then, they started to throw down their weapons one by one.

The first man dropped his spear, and ran toward the forest, screaming.

Another two men followed.

And before long the entire unit was collapsing in a wave of routing as the two commanders struggled to keep everything together.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING YOU COWARDLY BASTARDS? I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!"

Nakatane attempt to ride in front of the fleeing peasants, and bar their path with his horse. But they managed to scurry around him.

Now almost all the men had disappeared into the forest, still shouting loudly. The furious commander turned to his captain.

"JIKOUJI! AFTER THEM! COWARDS SHOULD BE CUT DOWN!"

"Kaka…"

A muffled laugh escaped the fingers that were pressed against his pale lips. His face twitched. Once, twice, and then on the third time he could not hold it in.

"Kahaha, that old fool! Even with your strategy your own men abandoned you! It seems I needn't have bothered at all!"

He was beside himself. His whole body heaving with laughter, he had to clumsily dismount his horse for fear of falling, and then the chuckle permeated throughout his body once more, and soon he was all but rolling on the floor.

Ochi watched the measly man chuckling away, and sniffed with distaste. To him, strength was everything, and if not for the coin, who would never follow such an insect of a man.

"Agh, fine! Go hunt them down, Ochi. But capture that old man alive! I want him to be there when I'm playing with that daughter of his."

The bear-like man smiled a wide smile, revealing rows of blackened teeth, and he let out a loud bellow to his men with a sword raised in the air, and then he proceeded to gallop toward the forest. Words were not needed, and each of his men understood the signal, as they followed behind him letting loose bestial battle cries.

Toda lifted off his helmet. "A savage bunch," he commented, clambering back onto his horse. "I was rather enjoying myself… But I suppose that oaf is far too stupid to understand the rather subtle humour of all this."

"That must be so, lord."

His retainer commented flatteringly.

…

"They're moving."

Niiro noted lightly.

"They are."

Ishiyama affirmed, remaining stock still.

"When will we move?"

"When the time is right."

As always, the lead guard was a man of few words. He did very little to set their nerves at ease, and some of the more weak-hearted amongst their men, such as Kitajo, were having trouble settling.

"This… This is really not good, Miura-san, we're definitely going to die."

Gengyo patted the lad on the shoulder.

"It'll be fine. Everything is going according to plan, just calm yourself."

"But we already lost 15 men! How are they meant to defeat 200 with just the amount that they have?"

…

Back in Toyone, all left behind were gathered in the market square. It was the safest strategy they could utilise, and the one that made the best use of their numbers.

A child began to cry loudly, shattering the silence, causing Akiko to flinch. Its grandparent hurried to comfort it, but by then it was already too late. The people were already far too tense. How could they not be? Their very lives depended on the result of the clash on the battlefield, and not a single one of them knew what was going on.

The 50 or so women Akiko had under her command clutched their yari nervously, wondering whether anyone would truly attack. Some even wondered if it was better if they did. At least then they would have something to take their mind off the agonising wait.

She desperately wished to offer comfort to the people, but she did not know whether it would have any effect, as she herself was greatly unsettled.

An old couple passed through the masses, handing out some treats that had been baked the night prior. Grateful hands received them, and whispers of thanks passed round.

Shivers started to fade as the rising sun warmed their backs.

Somehow, it felt wrong for the world to be so bright in such a time. The fog had been far more fitting.

Her horse snorted impatiently, as she patted her head attempting to calm it down. The horse could feel the danger of the present moment acutely, and did not like it a single bit. Had it been a less disciplined horse, it would likely have thrown its young rider a long time ago, and have galloped toward the hills.

Rin smiled up at her warmly, as though completely unfazed by all that was going on.

She took comfort in the strength of her younger friend, and reaffirmed her conviction clenching her spear tightly.

"Mummy, what's that smell?"

A child at one corner of the square asked, looking up at his anxious mother with big round eyes.

"It's the treat that the nice old lady gave you."

"No, it's not that mummy."

His older brother picked up on it.

"Ah, I smell it too."

The rest of the people in the square could hear their conversation quite clearly, and soon the majority of them were also sniffing the air.

"It's smoke, young ones. Look up to the sky."

The old lady from earlier commented lightly, as though it was something that did not involve her in the slightest.

Akiko followed the crooked old finger that was pointed skyward. Her heart sank, as dread began to fill her blood. A great, daunting cloud of smoke was billowing into the sky, reaching its fingers toward the sun in an attempt to block out its light.

In this moment of fear, she froze, as a hysteria gripped the people who knew exactly what such a dark plume signified.

…

Into the forest, things proceeded as planned. The fleeing men split off into groups, retrieving the stashed long yari that had been stored there since the night prior.

When they had fled earlier, most did not even need to act, for they felt a genuine sense of fear seeing their comrades fall to the mass of arrows that came toward them. They were glad to have this as their plan. With their backs against the trees, and the longest yari most had ever seen gripped in their hands, they felt a good deal safer.

Nakatane and Jikouji had dismounted, moving toward what they knew to be the centremost position of the clustered men, so that they might command, and also retrieve some spears for themselves.

A quivering peasant caught the master's eye as he pressed his back firmly against the tree, with his yari in hand. He brought a fist to his heart, and nodded deeply toward the man.

The man nodded back, a little more courageous than before.

The wait was sickening. They had expected the enemies to chase after them almost immediately, but now the adrenaline had all but worn off, and they were left in silence with their thoughts.

A few quivering men felt their bladders loosen, and tears begin to fall down their cheeks as their thoughts inevitably went toward death. It was not the actual state that they feared, but the pain that comes before it.

Not a single man could call them cowards however, for despite the extreme fear that they felt, not a single one abandoned their post, or fled further into the forest. The opportunity had always been there, but none had even thought of taking it.

Perhaps that was to Nakatane's credit, or perhaps it was to their own. Either way, it was the right choice to make that day.